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The 2015-2016 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Caligiuri's goal was easily the best of the match and Man Utd looked far from impressive, needing a penalty to get their win. They also did an awful lot of deep defending in their own house. But win they did.
Overal, England look about a million miles off the pace for a Champions League title right now. This despite the league spending a billion pounds on players in a single year.
Meanwhile, Man City also benefit from a PK to take a lucky win.
Overal, England look about a million miles off the pace for a Champions League title right now. This despite the league spending a billion pounds on players in a single year.
Meanwhile, Man City also benefit from a PK to take a lucky win.
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They did it in the end! Happy with the performance, crucial 3 points and will give the players a confidence boost ahead of Arsenal on Sunday.
ManU showed a good performance after conceding the goal.
City on the other side can prepare for a quick exit no matter if they make it through the group phase or into the euro league. Considering their budget their game yesterday was horrible.
Gladbach missed at least 4-5 sitters on the counter attacks, missed an penalty (which was very undeserved, but they were denied a 100% penalty just minutes later
).
And Gladbach is currently getting spanked in the league and in horrible form.
City on the other side can prepare for a quick exit no matter if they make it through the group phase or into the euro league. Considering their budget their game yesterday was horrible.
Gladbach missed at least 4-5 sitters on the counter attacks, missed an penalty (which was very undeserved, but they were denied a 100% penalty just minutes later
).And Gladbach is currently getting spanked in the league and in horrible form.
You must be really frustrated then.
Despite his dive, glad seeing Raffael, former key Hertha player (eons ago tho), playing ace against City yesterday. Showcase performance.
Crossing fingers BVB brings it home today without any injuries. Match against Super Bayern this week-end. Hope we can stick it to them. (I know, I know).
You must be really frustrated then.
Not as much as this guy (or embarassed)
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...t-theyre-not-in-the-competition-a6674656.html
Depressing thread!
On a lighter note, and eventually football related: I just paid my local "round the block" club SpVgg Haidhausen
finally a visit on my way back back from bringing out the trash (no joke). normally it's 6 bucks for males and 2 for women (no joke) which I thought a bit hefty. That one was for free so I thought "why not?" and paid (not literally) tribute with my presence. Seemed like the blokes were 1:2 behind but led 4:2 after I left 30mins later (took some time to figure out who's the home team though). Was fun, but couldn't ignore the criminal fouls on the field and faul language coming from the beer stand area - insulting the ~11yo linesman? Really? Wouldn't really want my daughter (nor son for that matter) playing in such a club, still comes across a bit simple minded. The reason most people I knew in school back then played tennis, hockey and basketball.
Well, wasn't meant to sound that depressing.
Was still fun all in all.
On a lighter note, and eventually football related: I just paid my local "round the block" club SpVgg Haidhausen
finally a visit on my way back back from bringing out the trash (no joke). normally it's 6 bucks for males and 2 for women (no joke) which I thought a bit hefty. That one was for free so I thought "why not?" and paid (not literally) tribute with my presence. Seemed like the blokes were 1:2 behind but led 4:2 after I left 30mins later (took some time to figure out who's the home team though). Was fun, but couldn't ignore the criminal fouls on the field and faul language coming from the beer stand area - insulting the ~11yo linesman? Really? Wouldn't really want my daughter (nor son for that matter) playing in such a club, still comes across a bit simple minded. The reason most people I knew in school back then played tennis, hockey and basketball.
Well, wasn't meant to sound that depressing.
Was still fun all in all.
lol - just learned that the great Kaiser started playing there.
![FoHrdOE.png]()
Gotta check out in which house he was raised, lol.
Gotta check out in which house he was raised, lol.
Another underwhelming performance from Liverpool as they draw 1-1 with the mighty FC Scion. Liverpool had plenty of chances to run away with this one but nobody could find a finish, and the usual defensive weaknesses mean a 1-0 win is always too much to ask.
Sounds familiar. BVB with a 1-1 as well. Pretty much a complete B-squad though.
That's the dilemma, you play within a totally unattractive competition, at least one day less time to regenerate when facing more important matches on the weekend for CL-qualification (not the league title by any chance, let's not kid ourselves). BVB plays Bayern on Sunday, having two days less to regenerate and re-focus.
At this time in the EL, Pool or BVB are favorites by a huge margin hence facing teams playing super defensive (haven't seen the Pool match though) giving your B-squad a really hard time. Play your A-squad? You may win but risk of losing points in the league afterwards or even injuries.
The bleak reality is that Liverpool have about the fifth highest wage bill in the league, which means they will finish fifth or sixth, with an outside chance at fourth every few seasons. History, fan culture, tactics, managerial quality, shrewd ownership - none of these matter as much as where you stand in the wage bill rankings. Other things - having a great stadium, for example - only matter insofar as they contribute to revenues and, by extension, the amount you can pay players.
There is no magical "Manchester United/Arsenal/Chelsea/Man City Way" that gives clubs a right to be at the top, nor is there any fundamental flaw in the culture of clubs lower down the table. It's all down to money.
With that said, one of the few ways to break that top four with a less-than-top-four wage bill is to win the Europa League. That probably means finishing somewhere between seventh and tenth in the league - which would I argue is a good bargain, because it gets you out of the Europa League the following season giving a fifth or sixth-ranked club a better chance at a top four run that season.
There is no magical "Manchester United/Arsenal/Chelsea/Man City Way" that gives clubs a right to be at the top, nor is there any fundamental flaw in the culture of clubs lower down the table. It's all down to money.
With that said, one of the few ways to break that top four with a less-than-top-four wage bill is to win the Europa League. That probably means finishing somewhere between seventh and tenth in the league - which would I argue is a good bargain, because it gets you out of the Europa League the following season giving a fifth or sixth-ranked club a better chance at a top four run that season.
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Winning the EL is no easy feat though (see above).
it's pretty depressing to look at it realistically (on the other hand it's not like I care THAT much, it's annoying and eventually will drive me away from pro football in the long term, no idea, but wouldn't affect my love for the sport in itself) - we see Wolfsburg aka nowhere-land buying top players (for fantasy prices) without winning a single title (deBruyne went there instead to BVB in their heights, Schürrle (lol) etc pp). We have Red Bull Leipzig who manage to buy top talent from first league clubs despite playing second league themselves. RedBull also buys 15yo from our Hertha youth for 250.000 bucks or gives parents legal advises to drive their kids away from the club to join Leipzig (which didn't work out in the end, got overruled now the kid left his former school already and has now to "come back" to Berlin). I
It is sad, and often does feel like a guilty pleasure watching those soap operas on the pitch - but they're so damn entertaining at times!
it's pretty depressing to look at it realistically (on the other hand it's not like I care THAT much, it's annoying and eventually will drive me away from pro football in the long term, no idea, but wouldn't affect my love for the sport in itself) - we see Wolfsburg aka nowhere-land buying top players (for fantasy prices) without winning a single title (deBruyne went there instead to BVB in their heights, Schürrle (lol) etc pp). We have Red Bull Leipzig who manage to buy top talent from first league clubs despite playing second league themselves. RedBull also buys 15yo from our Hertha youth for 250.000 bucks or gives parents legal advises to drive their kids away from the club to join Leipzig (which didn't work out in the end, got overruled now the kid left his former school already and has now to "come back" to Berlin). I
It is sad, and often does feel like a guilty pleasure watching those soap operas on the pitch - but they're so damn entertaining at times!
If Chelsea don't massively improve, we might just see the race for fourth get really interesting later this season (look for some big spending by Chelsea in January?). This also takes a lot of pressure off Arsenal in their quest for a perennial top four finish.
Both Newcastle and Sunderland started strongly - and then completely crumbled. Aguero scores five. At least Sunderland avoided defeat.
Both Newcastle and Sunderland started strongly - and then completely crumbled. Aguero scores five. At least Sunderland avoided defeat.
Aguero's 5 goals in 20 minutes was something!
It should be a interesting match between Man U and Arsenal.
Mou really seems to be unravelling under the pressure. He seems lost and doesn't know what to do. The bizarre sub sub of Matic is a good example.
Fabregas and Ivanovic should not be playing but he lacks the depth to replace them, and without Costa he lacks firepower upfront. Is LvG justified for stalling on Pedro and is Wenger justified for refusing to resign Fabregas/Barca for selling him.
Essentially, the spine of his team is faulty or non-existent. Willian is the only consistent player. Everyone else is miles off pace.
And Mou resorting to pre-begging in his post-match interview was the epitome of weird.
Perhaps a testament to Fergie who knew how to get his teams going time and time again regardless of previous success
And to a lesser degree, Wenger, who has rebuilt teams over and over yet kept them in the top 4 without fail...no matter how bad things got for him.
Thing is, who would come in even if Abramovic got trigger happy? Ancelotti maybe but he probably wouldn't come back given what was done to him, and I'm not sure Klopp would fit the Chelsea culture.
Fabregas and Ivanovic should not be playing but he lacks the depth to replace them, and without Costa he lacks firepower upfront. Is LvG justified for stalling on Pedro and is Wenger justified for refusing to resign Fabregas/Barca for selling him.
Essentially, the spine of his team is faulty or non-existent. Willian is the only consistent player. Everyone else is miles off pace.
And Mou resorting to pre-begging in his post-match interview was the epitome of weird.
Perhaps a testament to Fergie who knew how to get his teams going time and time again regardless of previous success
And to a lesser degree, Wenger, who has rebuilt teams over and over yet kept them in the top 4 without fail...no matter how bad things got for him.
Thing is, who would come in even if Abramovic got trigger happy? Ancelotti maybe but he probably wouldn't come back given what was done to him, and I'm not sure Klopp would fit the Chelsea culture.
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Wow, crazy scenes at the Emirates!!! Can't wait to see how this plays out.
A reasonably lively Merseyside derby and a fair result.
Liverpool always concede. This is their biggest problem by far. Teams go into games against Liverpool knowing they will score. And it inevitably comes from some sort of comedy defending error.
Liverpool also have problems up front. Benteke wasn't getting enough service and now he's hurt. Rogers switches to a strike "partnership" of Ings and Sturridge - I'm not sure they are going to work together well. Ings has a great work rate and positions himself well, but he often makes the wrong final pass or fails to see Sturridge in a good position. Sturridge is a great striker but is fragile and can be a bit selfish, so between the two of them I don't see a "partnership" forming.
A reasonably lively Merseyside derby and a fair result.
Liverpool always concede. This is their biggest problem by far. Teams go into games against Liverpool knowing they will score. And it inevitably comes from some sort of comedy defending error.
Liverpool also have problems up front. Benteke wasn't getting enough service and now he's hurt. Rogers switches to a strike "partnership" of Ings and Sturridge - I'm not sure they are going to work together well. Ings has a great work rate and positions himself well, but he often makes the wrong final pass or fails to see Sturridge in a good position. Sturridge is a great striker but is fragile and can be a bit selfish, so between the two of them I don't see a "partnership" forming.
Fellaini and Schneiderlin coming on. LVG adding pace in midfield and preparing to lump it up to the big man. Probably wise, Arsenal always leave some space at the back.
Man Utd were absolutely humbled in the first half, looking old, slow and creaky. They need to change their approach for the second half. Arsenal aren't going to shut up shop, so they will need to keep scoring or at least pressing hard if they want to maintain their margin.
Man Utd were absolutely humbled in the first half, looking old, slow and creaky. They need to change their approach for the second half. Arsenal aren't going to shut up shop, so they will need to keep scoring or at least pressing hard if they want to maintain their margin.